


From Black and White to Color

by Destiellover



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anna being an awesome best friend, Bottom!Cas, FakeAgent!Dean, Human!Anna, Hunter!Sam, M/M, but they will switch occasionally, dean and Cas cuteness, human!Cas, hunter!dean, i dont recommend, i make things up as i go and hope they all connect at the end, its a sad stressful way to live, sam sadness, same for sam, slow build destiel, so sorry jess is gone :(, so when I started i said Anna was a best friend..., that is literally how i write, top!dean, whatever I dont need to follow my own storyline, yeah shes his sister now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-20 21:28:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1526408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiellover/pseuds/Destiellover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam are on a case, looks like its going to take a while, so Dean and Sam decide to question people at the local bar where the latest vic was last seen. What Dean wasn't expecting was his world to flash into color with a pair of bright blue eyes right at the focal point. From black and white to color, Dean's whole world is new, how is he going to deal with Sam bugging him about the case, figuring out what people mean when they say that red is a sexy color and trying to find time to talk to a dark, messy haired, blue eyed, incredibly sexy guy. Wow, its gonna be a hell of a week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So, This is Blue?

**Author's Note:**

> Got the idea from this post on tumblr.  
> http://owynsama.tumblr.com/post/83699208867
> 
> My tumblr is fandom-addictions Check me out :)
> 
> Areosmith's Amazing is the song i used

"Alright, Sammy tell me why we're here again." Dean said, staring at the empty highway as they neared the exit, the gray scenery flitting by on his right side.

Everything black and white, just like his job, the whole world stuck in black and white.

Until you found your true love that is. Sam said he saw all the colors once, he said they were bright and vibrant and beautiful. Dean thought he was just being a sap like he usually is but, having no experience to go off of he couldn't argue the point. Sam liked to say yellow was his favorite, the color of his late would-be-bride's hair and the sun. (Yeah, the sun. It's not really that gray color everyone sees, it's this blinding, sharp color, or so Sam says.) He also says Dean's baby is a bright pink, and even with Dean never seeing the colors for himself he knows pink is a girly color and he would never be caught dead driving a pink car around. (Right?)

The colors that you do get to see only stay around for so long though. Oh, sure once you find your true love or soul mate or whatever they're called you see colors. You see all the colors, Sam says red looks really sexy on the right person, blue is what the lighter gray of the sky is and green is the darker gray of the grass and trees. It's all just one, big bland grey to Dean, never once caught even a glimpse of any of the colors Sam rattles off. Dean can tell the road is black and the clouds are white, but ask him to point out what color a stop sign is he'll look at you like you're a dinosaur. (It's red by the way, Sam told him that as well.)

Once your soul mate is gone though the world fades back into the dull colors most people grew up with. Dean is envious of the people who meet their soul mates early on in life, high school sweethearts that have never had to know a world without color in it. Sam said losing the color in life is like a darkness creeping back into your world that you thought you got away from.

He said he remembers knowing the exact moment Jess died. He had to park his car up the road because the rest of it was blocked off, he could see thick, black smoke curling up from their apartment building, staining the dark blue sky with inky swirls. He had his door thrown open and was running up the road before he even shut the car off, he pushed his way through the crowd screaming her name, hoping, wishing, and begging for her to be outside. At the front of the crown=d he froze in horror, there had been no high pitched giggle telling him to calm down and relax, no flash of golden hair that fell in little ringlets, and no cute pair of brown eyes( Sam’s words not his) with the little mole in between them meeting his own across the sea of people, just the muted colors of everyone milling around watching the fire lick the sky.

The fire its self was beautiful, reds, oranges, yellows and blues dancing together in the windows of the building, but Sam didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it. Even as he scanned the windows of the building the color started draining away, the bright reds of the fire took on a dull look and the colors everywhere else dropped away, leaving him mostly in grayscale again. The light flashes of color in the fire was the only thing that kept him from collapsing right there on the spot in defeat.

He pushed his way forward, past the last few people and under the used-to-be yellow tape, desperate to get into the building. If the firemen wouldn't do their job of saving people from a burning building then he would. He started off at a sprint as soon as he was past the fire line. The flames were losing color faster and faster and if he didn't get there in time, fine. He would die right along with the color of his world. He was at the bottom step, the heat was intense and overwhelming, but nothing was going to stop him from getting to Jess, getting to his color.

Unless you count a bulky man in a heavy coat as something, the man tackled Sam from behind, shouting things over his shoulder, things Sam didn't want to process at the moment. All he wanted to do was get in to the quickly graying building and find Jess. Next thing he knew he was being hauled backwards by two men in jackets, he was shouting her name, screaming it till his voice gave out and then he was tugging at the arms that restrained him. The noise of the fire was loud in his ears and he will swear to you, to this day, that everything got real quiet all of the sudden, and he could hear someone that sounded an awful lot like Jess whisper his name. He froze and looked up at the building, horror written on his face as the last of the color dropped away from the flames. He felt numb as he went limp in the firemen's arms, his knees colliding with the pavement before they realized he had stopped struggling. He hung his head and let them drag him over to an ambulance, where a woman with blond hair (or he assumed it was blond hair, it just looked white now) was trying to speak with him. She put her hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Honey, why on earth would you try running in to a fire? Don't you know you could have died?" She was asking him, he ignored her and started up at the building looming above the fire trucks and ambulances.

"I can’t see them anymore." Was all he said in a scratchy voice as he turned to face the woman again. "The colors are gone, what am I supposed to do now?"

 

 

Dean glanced over at Sam, wondering if he ever regretted, leaving Jess that night to help Dean with a hunt, if he ever blamed Dean for what happened. _Probably_ , He thought as he turned back to the road. _Technically it is my fault_. Sam was speaking then and Dean had no choice but to turn off that part of his brain and pay attention to him.

"Do you even listen when I talk? Why am I asking, the answer is no." Dean grinned at that. "Like I said, 20 minutes ago, there are four vics, the first two were found last Wednesday, one male one female. According to the woman's roommate, the two were out on their third date, when..."

"Third date? And they're walking around a park instead of macking on each other? Some people don't know how to live." Dean said, flicking on his blinker and turning off the highway.

Sam gave Dean a look that could only be classified as a bitch face.

"Some people actually like to get to know one another before they have sex, Dean. Now, are you going to listen to what I have to say or are you going to make another sex joke?" Sam took Deans silence as a que to go on. "Anyways, it looks like they were walking through the park when someone came up behind them and tackled the man to the ground. Says here, he used some sort of blunt object to beat the man's head in before turning to the woman and doing the same. They haven't found the murder weapon yet but,..."

"Sam, that sounds like a normal everyday murder, not our cup of tea. Did you just have me drive my baby 200 miles out of our way, to investigate a normal murder? I've told you people are just bad sometimes."

"Are you done? Can I finish?" Dean rolled his eyes and nodded his head as he stopped at a light. The top light in the set of three glowing white against the near blackness outside. "Good, now they didn't find the weapon but, what caught my eye was their hearts."

The light changed and Dean pulled out onto another road. "What? Were they broken?" He joked, lightly.

"You keep making smart ass comments like that and I'll throw these papers out the window and make you actually research your own case for once." Sam said rolling down the window slightly to back up his threat.

"Hey now, no need to get hasty. Finish what you were saying, princess. Something about their hearts."

"If this is how you're going to act, this whole run through will be slow and painful for the both of us." Dean rolled his eyes and made a get on with it gesture with his free hand. "Right the hearts were missing."

"All that big lead up, and you give me 'the hearts were missing’. I’m disappointed, I was looking for exploded in their chests or lying next to them or something. Frankly, I'm disappointed."

"Dean, this is serious."

"Oh, I know, I got it missing hearts equal foul play, how ‘bout those other two murders? What's up with them that makes them so case worthy?"

"The second murder took place on Thursday, this guy was ripped apart. They found body pieces of him strewn all over the alley behind the town library. Coroner's report says that not all of the pieces were recovered, they're still missing half a leg and three fingers."

"Gross." Dean said switching lanes and glancing around at the white and gray signs lighting up the road through the town. "I hate the ones that splatter."

"Yeah, well the last one isn't much better. The last vic happened on Friday, another one in an alley, this one had his intestines ripped out of his body and thrown around him in piles. He was also missing his heart." Sam finished talking and closed the file, placing it on his lap.

Dean spotted a bright white motel sign gleaming in the sky with a vacancy notice underneath it and turned into the parking lot, thankful they wouldn't have to drive around the whole damned town to find a place to stay.

"Okay, so we have four murders in three days. Two on the first day, both their hearts MIA, still don't know where they are. The next one, on the second day, is ketchup on alley walls, while the last one that happened the last day, is a pile of spaghetti missing his meatball. That does sound like our kind of case, so," Dean glanced at the glowing white numbers on the dash. "It's only 8:30 wanna go check out the body’s then head over to question the employees at the bar who worked with the first male vic after we check in?"

Sam was staring at Dean as he pulled into a parking space. "That's a..." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, that’s a very blunt way to put it but, yeah, that sounds fine. I'll go check in."

"Awesome. See I listen sometimes" Dean said shutting off the Impala and pulling his phone out to call the Coroner's office as Sam unfolded himself from the car.

 

 

10 minutes later, after hanging up with a very grumpy man who, only after Dean had mentioned he was from the FBI, agreed to meet them there in 20 minutes, Sam was walking back to the car holding up a room key and pointing around the corner. He didn't get back in the car, coming instead up to the window and giving Dean directions to the room.

They unloaded their stuff rather quickly, trying hard to ignore the hideous pattern on the bed spread, which Sam insisted was probably an ugly brown color. The room its self though didn't seem too bad, the bathroom didn't have roaches and the surfaces looked white instead of gray. The main room he had entered through had two gray and black twin beds pushed against a wall with heavy drapes that looked nearly black hanging over the windows. There was a small table with three chairs in one corner and a combination entertainment center/dresser against the wall opposite the foot of the beds. It didn't look to bad for what they had paid.

After they had their stuff safely (or at least as safe as you can get in a cheap motel) stored in their room. They put on their fed suits and headed out for the Coroner's office.

 

The short bald man that was waiting for them when they pulled in 10 minutes late looked livid, so Dean subtly pushed Sam ahead of them for introductions.

Sam shot Dean a glare and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out his badge, Dean following suit.

"Hi, I'm agent Finn, this is my partner, agent Sawyer." He said indicating Dean who grunted out a greeting as he flashed his badge. "So sorry to inconvenience you and make you come out so late, but with your help tonight hopefully we can wrap our case up and be outta your hair before tomorrow evening."

The man blinked up at Sam for a moment before nodding jerkily and heading towards the front door, pulling out a set of keys as he went.

Sam made a move to follow but, a hand on his arm stopped him. He followed the hand to the arm and in turn to the face of the offending road block.

Dean looked at Sam his face scrunching up. "Really dude? Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer? I'm not even the cool one!" He said slapping Sam's arm. "You're such a bitch."

"Yeah? Well you have no room to talk, jerk." Sam said scowling for a moment before his face broke out into a smile. They grinned at each other for a second before the clearing of someone's throat made them both look towards the door.

The grumpy looking man (yeah, ever since Sam's apology his mood had downgraded from livid to grumpy.) Was standing by an open door tapping his foot and glaring between the two. They passed through the doorway and into a dark reception area, full of deep grays and blacks. The only source of white light, pouring in through a small window near the roof. Sam muttered a quick thanks for holding the door open to the grumpy guy as he passed (That girl.) And then the man -Mr. Roland, he told Sam not Dean- pushed past them, and beckoned for them to follow.

Mr. Roland dropped them off in the morgue, telling them not to break any thing (he stared directly at Dean while he said that) and that he'd be in his office if they needed anything.

Sam proceeded to pull out the body's they needed as Dean stared after Mr. Roland.

"I don't think he likes me." Dean concluded turning around to watch Sam pull back the white sheet that had been covering one of the bodies.

"That's nice, Dean. Make friends later, come over here and look at this." Sam said waving Dean over and pointing at the woman's chest.

Dean wandered over with his hands in his pockets.

"Whatcha got Miss Marple?"

Sam shot Dean another bitch face. "So you can quote Agatha Christie but, I can't quote Mark Twain? Look at how torn the skin looks around the chest wound."

"Cause Agatha Christie is cool." Dean said leaning over the body to get a closer look. "It's all rough, like someone used a dull knife or, I don't know, a spoon."

"Exactly, it’s not smooth like a regular knife cuts would be, I wonder if...” Sam moved away from the woman's body and pulled away the sheets covering two other men to reveal the same type of wound on each of their chests as well. “Huh.”

Dean turned to the body behind him and pulled back the last sheet. Under which was a pile of gray meat that vaguely resembled a body. He scrunched his nose at the sight before him. "Well, let's scratch tacos off tonight’s menu choices, this guy looks like he could be in one. No telling if this guy had the same thing on his chest or not."

"It looks more like it was ripped open, not cut." Sam said from where he was bent over the body of the first male victim.

"So, what are our options here? Ghoul, Werewolf, Windego, Shapeshifter, Hellhound, Vampire. Yeah, Sam you really narrowed that down, anything with hands or claws can rip something."

Sam sighed and looked up at Dean. "I know, I'm just saying what I see here. It's not much."

"Well are we done then? Ground beef back here's giving me the creeps."

"Yeah. We can come back if we need to."

"Good, you can go let sunshine know while I wait at the car." Dean said as he pulled the sheet over the corpse in front of him and pushed him back in to his locker.

Sam rolled his eyes but nodded none the less.

"Okay fine, I’ll finish up here. You're such a baby."

"Am not."

 

 

They pulled up to the bar almost 45 minutes later just as the 10'o clock rush was pouring in. Dean's stomach gave an appreciative growl as the scent of food hit them on their way through the door.

"Let's question everyone tomorrow, when they're less busy. I'm hungry and want some food." Dean said eyeing a tray of burgers and fries as they passed.

"We said we were going to question the employees tonight though."

Dean waved a hand towards Sam in a dismissive manner and picked his way through the crowded bar to a free booth.

"And they'll still be here tomorrow but, food, Sam. Dinner." Sam sighed and slid into the seat opposite Dean as they waited for their server to arrive. Turns out, even for how crowded it was they didn't have to wait long before a black haired bubbly server bounced over to their table.

"What can I get you fellas to drink?" She asked in an overly perky attitude.

"I'll have a blueberry martini, please." Sam said smiling at the waitress. Dean snorted and tried to hide his amusement.

"Just a whisky for me, thanks." The waitress smiled at them both and bounced away.

"Have something you want to share with the class, Dean?" Sam asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, you're a fucking girl. Blueberry martin- that's a girl’s drink, Samantha."

"Oh, really? I bet you think that blueberry’s are blue too."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock. They're named blueberries for a reason."

Sam looked over at Dean smugly. "Fuck you, Watson. I bet you think blackberries are black." He didn't word it as a question but, he sure as hell said it as one with a teasing lit to his voice too the little shit.

"Of course they are, blueberries are blue, so naturally, blackberries are blac..."

"Wrong! They're actually purple." The smirk on Sam's face made Dean want to reach across the table and strangle him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Dean asked, flatly as he stared at Sam with wide eyes.

"Nope."

"What kind of fucked up person looks at a purple berry and says 'I'm gonna fuck up someone's life real bad with this one.' Blackberries… hah. More like lieberries…" The waitress popped back up at that moment sliding a dark gray drink in a tall glass over towards Sam and a short glass with a lighter liquid in it towards Dean.

"You boys ready to order?"

"Course we are sweetheart, I'll have the bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries and Mr. Vegan over there will have anything green you have in the kitchen. Heck, he'll even take the little plate decoration things you have for, OW!" Dean snapped his mouth closed and reached down below the table to rub the sharp pain in his shin.

"Sorry, he's not table trained yet. I'll just have a Cesar salad, please and thank you." The waitress glanced between the two and giggled before running off to put their orders in.

"Did you really have to kick me?"

"Did you really have to keep talking?"

"Yes," Dean said, knocking back his glass and taking a deep drink of the light gray liquid, relishing in the burn it left down his throat. "Yes I did."

"Anyways, this case..."

"Oh Jesus, Sam. I just want a burger, I don't want a rundown of what this case could and couldn't be. The possibilities are fricken endless."

"Good, so you see where I'm coming from. What I was thinking was that we check out the..." Dean sighed and lifted his drink up to his lips again. And this is the point in the conversation where he just tunes Sam out and lets him get all geeky over the details.

Dean looked around the bar. It was a rather small place for how many people were there but, they made do with what they had. The walls were a dark wood paneling that matched the tables that were scattered around the room in any open area where they could fit.

Dean's eyes lingered on a few of the tables, catching snippets of conversations.

A Latino women was throwing her hands in the air and shouting at her table mate.

"He called you fat? In what world is it okay to still be with him after he says something like that? You better dump his ass before..."

Some guy was leaning real close to his friend across the table a telling him with wide eyes:

"No, seriously dude. I'm making 70 bucks a day just by selling..."

Over near the bar itself a guy had his arm around another whose face was a dark shade of grey. _Probably red faced._ Dean thought quietly to himself.

Time to go, Jackson. You're too fucked up to even drive, you're such a fucking light weight, hand over your keys."

And there was a girl in light gray sitting next to a guy in a dark polo with some sort of medical logo on it, he had his arm wrapped around her as he told her the ending to his story.

"Yeah, there are like 6 bags missing from every shipment we get in, it's crazy."

The screeching sound that was considered music nowadays faded away from the overhead speakers and was replaced with the soft sounds of classic rock.

 _I kept the right ones out and let the wrong ones in_.

Dean grunted in appreciation and looked around to see if they had a jukebox or if it was just a crazy coincidence that the radio played his favorite Areosmith song.

_Had an angel of mercy to see through all my sin._

After a few moments of looking Dean spotted an old, well used jukebox in the corner. He smiled to himself and realized that meant someone had chosen the song. He glanced around the intimidate area of the jukebox looking for someone who fit the profile of an Areosmith lover.

 _There were times in my life, when I was going insane, tryin' to walk through, the pain_.

His eyes landed on a messy black head of hair. Whoever the owner of said hair was, he had no idea. He was faced the other way talking to a short, gray haired girl.

_When I lost my grip and I hit the floor. Yeah, I thought I could leave, but couldn't get out the door._

Dean tore his eyes away from the man to look over at Sam, who was still talking about god knows what. He rolled his eyes and glanced back at the man. He was fairly tall, looked to be about Dean's height and was wearing a gray, almost white trenchcoat. Weird.

_I was so sick and tired of livin' a lie. I was wishing that I would die._

Dean lifted his glass to his lips, keeping his eyes on the man by the jukebox. But when the man turned any alcohol Dean had been going to swallow down got stuck in his throat and spit all over the table and Sam.

 _It's amazing. With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light_.

Dean coughed and scrubbed a hand over his eyes. Sam made some noise of annoyance as he got sprayed with whisky and shot a glare at Dean that went ignored by the latter.

When Dean looked around the room it was like he stepped into a different bar. The dark wood panels that had been almost black took on a lighter color and the room seemed to burst with all the bright hues. He looked around desperately trying to grasp on to a color, any color. To name one, but the only color names he knew were directly linked to objects. Of course he'd been taught the color names in school, but that didn't mean he knew what they looked like.

Dean's eyes landed on the landscape painting that was required in all establishments and he sighed in relief. This was familiar, landscapes are what Sam kept pointing out colors on. 'Okay, sky is blue. Wow, not what I imagined. Sun is yellow, Sam was right it is a sharp color. Grass is of course green, tree trunks are brown and the rest of the colors will fall into place.' Dean thought as he looked around the room again. Searching for the first color he had saw.

 _It's amazing. When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright_.

Blue, sapphire, azure, cerulean. All color names for blue that Dean had learnt in first grade, and none of them seamed to describe the splash of bright color that was staining the eyes of the messy haired man he had looked at earlier.

That blue was the color that kick started all the others, and it was the best one he had seen so far. Yeah, the orange color he saw in the sun on the painting looked cool too, but it had nothing on the intensity of the eyes that were staring across the bar at him.

Then the blue was gone, a bright green color moving across his vision. He tried to peer around the huge man in the obnoxiously bright (Sam had called those neon, right?) Polo. By the time he was out of the way the pair of bright blue eyes that had ensnared him were nowhere to be seen.

Dean continued scanning the crowd watching the different colors move about the room, but always searching for the electrifying blue he knew couldn't have gotten far. His leg was bouncing and he was itching to get up and go search for the man. A hand in front of his face had him tumbling back into reality out of his thoughts.

"Dean? Are you okay?" Sam said worry etched into his features. "I've been trying to get your attention for almost five minutes." His eyes scanned Dean’s face.

"Sam... You have, your hair, your eyes..." Dean couldn't finish the sentence he was too busy examining his brother in full color.

"What?" Sam asked raising a hand to his hair self-consciously.

"You have brown hair." Dean said stupidly.

Sam's eyes widened comically and had Dean not been having a color overload he might have burst out laughing at the look on Sam's face.

"You can... When did you... Who?" Dean shrugged in response to Sam's question and Sam turned toward the crowd of people.

"He was by the jukebox don't know where he is now though." Dean followed Sam's lead and resumed scanning the crowd.

"He?"

"That a problem?" Dean asked tightening the grip on his glass, suddenly protective of... Shit he needed to learn his name.

"No, just... surprising." Sam said raising his hands in surrender as he stood up, he looked down at Dean expectedly. “Well? Are you gonna just sit there or help me look for your soul mate?”

 

 

 

After 20 minutes of searching the ever swirling mass of colors and seeing none that even come close to the blue he had seen, he gave up, returning to their booth where the food sat untouched.

"Come on, Sammy. Let’s get out of here."

Sam looked up in surprise, then down at Dean's untouched plate and then out into the crowd of people.

"Dean you haven't eaten anything."

"Not hungry. Let’s just go."

Sam sighed and nodded, brushing nonexistent crumbs from his jacket as he dropped some bills on the table.

 

 

They piled into the car and drove back to the motel in near silence, breaking it only to turn music on. Once back at the seedy place, Dean jumped out of the car, calling first shower and racing into the room to avoid any questions he knew Sam would launch at him the second he was able to.

Once in the bathroom he turned the shower to hot and stripped his suit. Stepping into the shower, under the gentle pressure of the water was like getting a well-deserved massage. He leaned back against the wall, reviling in the mixing sensations of hot and cold.

As he lathered the cheap motel shampoo in his hair he let his thoughts wonder to the bright blue eyes of the man from the bar, he imagined the strangers hands working the shampoo through his scalp. That is was his hands dragging down his chest nails lightly scraping.

Dean knew he was getting carried away, he didn’t even know the man’s name, but he couldn't stop himself. He wrapped a hand around his already quickly hardening dick, giving it a few strokes as to bring it to full hardness. And then he was lost in the fantasy.

A warm body pressed up against Dean in the small shower, biting and sucking at the pulse point in his neck. They drug the hand not tangled in Dean's hair down his side slowly. Then a hand ghosted over his now throbbing dick, he let out a moan at the contact and his hips bucked up automatically.

The hand in his hair tightened its grip while the other moved away to hold his hips still. There were lips moving against his ear and Dean had to concentrate hard in order to hear what he was saying.

"Don't move. I need you to stay still, can you do that, Dean?"

Dean let out a whimper at the loss of friction over his cock, but nodded anyways.

"Good."

And then the hand was back on his cock moving slowly at first, but quickening the pace until Dean was moaning softly and struggling to control his hips.

Suddenly a wet heat enveloped his cock and a loud moan ripped from his chest as he bucked up into the mouth in front of him. Dean looked down and seeing a mass of dark hair bobbing over top of him while a hand working their own cock had him nearing the edge quicker than expected.

He moaned again as he felt a tongue flick over his slit, he was dangerously close to finishing and was holding back as much as he could but his control was slipping. Then the mouth was gone and only a hand was left pumping his cock.

"Come for me, Dean." The other person was staring up at him now the only notable feature being their bright blue eyes and he didn't need to be told twice.

He came with a shout, white creeping into his vision as he sagged back against the wall, letting the water wash away and evidence of what had just transpired. He quickly finished washing his body before turning off the shower and wrapping the towel around his waist.

 

 

Luckily, Sam was passed out on his bed by the time Dean walked out of the bathroom, no awkward glances at each other tonight. Sam somehow always knew when Dean did the deed in the shower.

He pulled on a thin black tee (and he actually knew it was a black tee!) and a pair of sweats before falling face first into the bed, wrapping himself in the scratchy blanket.

 _It's amazing and I'm saying a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight_.

Dean fell asleep that night with a pair of stunning blue eyes and Areosmith plaguing his thoughts.

_So from all of us and Areosmith, to all of you out there, wherever you are, remember the light at the end of the tunnel, may be you. Goodnight._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few things,  
> The song from this chapter is Areosmith's Amazing  
> Thanks to my awesome sister, Lauren, for proof reading for me. Sorry if there are some mistakes I'll go back and fix them later.  
> All comments and Kudos are loved and cherished dearly! Thank you all so much for reading, it really means a lot to me!!  
> Now I have to get off of here before i start offering my soul up to you guys for being so incredible.


	2. The One where Anna sings and Castiel finds colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was really no point in him coming though, the second they had walked through the door Anna had run off saying something about ‘hunting down some prey’ and Castiel had been left alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE RE READ THE FIRST CHAPTER BEFORE READING THIS ONE  
> i made some minor changes and it might relate to this chapter. also its been forever since i wrote any thing to this... on second thought dont reread unless you want to deal with my shitty writing again...  
> I'm sorry its so short, It's like 3 AM here and i dont know why im awake *Crazy laughter*  
> Im hoping to actually start up on this again, figure out where i was going an what not anyways. the next chapter should be out soon and be in Castiel's perspective again.  
> But dont take my word for it im such a procrastinator...  
> My Tumblr is fandom-addictions ... feel free to yell at me if im taking forever

Castiel stood in a back corner of the crowded bar near the jukebox looking around uneasily. He sipped his drink as he shifted from foot to foot. He didn’t like bars, he never had, but Anna did and what sort of brother would he be if he left her to venture out here on her own… and she had begged. Pulling out the puppy dog face that seamed to get him to do anything.

There was really no point in him coming though, the second they had walked through the door Anna had run off saying something about ‘hunting down some prey’ and Castiel had been left alone.

He had wondered around for a bit watching the people talk and laugh with one another, feeling out of place. He watched a couple make out in the corner opposite him and wrinkling his nose at the display he turned away quickly.

He hated this music too. It was bouncy one minute and then there were people screaming the next. He had got himself a few fingers of bourbon at the start of the night and was still nursing it, an hour and a half later.

Castiel idly wondered where Anna was and what ‘hunting down some prey‘ entailed, before he decide that maybe he really didn’t want to know after all. He glanced around again at all the bodies in the small bar, they all seems to be having a grand time, but here he was standing in the corner not really getting why they were having such fun. It was only a hot stuffy little bar in the middle of an average sized town. It’s not even like this was the most popular place around.

The screeching that people called music started up again and Castiel looked over towards the jukebox, wondering if he wanted to brave the sickening couple that were beside it to change the music. After a few more agonizing moments he decided that, yes it was worth it.

Pushing his way to the jukebox proved difficult even though he was only a few feet away and once he got there he was saddened to see that there was no classical music to choose from, although considering where he was it shouldn’t have surprised him. He opted instead to go for some softer rock that he thinks he remembers one of his older brothers playing a long time ago.

He closed his eyes and let the soft sounds of Areosmith wash over him, but he only had a moment to appreciate the song before a body was flung against him.

“CASSIE! Honey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Anna giggled into his shoulder and he rolled his eyes, tugging her off of him and leading them a few steps away from the jukebox (and the couple who had still not come up for air).

“I highly doubt that Anna, you left the second we got here. What was the point of bringing me along for company if we were not going to keep each other company?” He asked as he turned her around to face him.

“Why, Cassie, What big eyes you have.” Anna said giggling again. “Get it? Like, I’m red ‘cause everyone tells me that’s what my hair color is, and you’re the wolf because you act all scary and intimidating.” Castiel looked his sister over and took in her flushed cheeks and dopey smile.

“Are you drugged or just drunk?” Castiel asked cautiously, he hadn’t been around a tipsy Anna enough to know what she would be like.

“Come on, Cassie! I’m not THAT stupid.” Anna said glaring at her brother for a moment before breaking out into another batch of giggles. “OH MY GOSH! I love this song! Sing it with me Castiel, please? _There are times in my life, when I’m was going insane, tryin' to walk through, the pAINNNNNNN_.”

“You have work in the morning and are going to deeply regret this come tomorrow.” Castiel said smiling and shaking his head at his sister. At that moment Castiel though he could feel someone looking at him, but before he could turn to look Anna grabbed the man beside her and sang the next line to him.

“ _When I lost that grip and I hit the floor. Yeah, I thoughts I could live, but couldn't come for the doooooooor.”_

“Anna. You cannot just grab random strangers, let the man go.” Castiel said tugging on her arm and apologizing to the man. “Also, I am fairly certain you’re singing the lines of the song wrong.”

“You don’t know shit!” Anna said playfully to Castiel. That burning sensation on the back of his neck was still there like someone was watching him. “ _I’m----- sick—tired---------liiiiiiie. ------wishing ---------- could diiiiiiiie.”_

“Anna, you’re blanking on words. I think it’s time to go home now, before you start table dancing or something crazy.” Castiel said through a grin as he turned them around. Anna nodded lazily and let her brother point her in the right direction as a sudden tiredness swept through her body.

“ _It's amazing. With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light_.” Anna sang softly as Castiel raised his eyes looking for the exit, instead of finding their way to freedom Castiel’s eyes collided with another pair and he sucked in a breath, the whole world seeming to slow down. He only got the barest hint of a color and a smattering of freckles before the man he was looking at collapsed into a coughing fit. Spitting whatever drink he had all over his companion.

Castiel looked around wildly then, while the man was distracted and tried to pick out some sort of color reference, relieved when his eyes landed on a painting on the wall. Reds, oranges, blues, pinks and yellows jumped out at him but the color that stuck was the green. It was the closest to the shade he had seen of the man’s eyes and that reminded him where was he—ah, the green eyed, freckled man was sitting in the same spot staring at the wall too. Was he looking at the color reference also, or had he looked over and seen Castiel not looking and took that as disinterest, maybe he though Castiel couldn’t see the colors like the man could (That happened to people sometimes. They saw color looking at one person but the other didn’t. It was rare but it happened.)

Or maybe the stranger couldn’t see the colors like Castiel could now, and wouldn’t that be his luck. Mister gorgeous eyes over there didn’t connect with Castiel and now his colors would fade with in the week leaving him just a color blind as ever. But, that didn’t explain the spit take. Why would someone have that violent of a reaction just by meeting his eyes, if colors didn’t burst like stars before him also? Now anxiety was creeping up into Castiel, why hadn’t he looked back to him yet? How long has it been? Hours? Minutes? Days? He had no idea maybe it was his own mind playin—there!

Castiel met those green eyes again and nearly swooned when the rush of fresh air entered his lungs. Must have been less than a few minutes otherwise he would have passed out from not breathing. Castiel’s eyes roamed over the freckles on his soul mate’s face and thought he could map galaxies in them. He wanted to go over and say something, anything, but Anna was still clinging to him and she was more than a little tipsy.

He could always come back, he had never expected to meet his soul mate in his home town but now that he knows he’s here, he can come back again and again. See him, talk to him, flirt with him. But Anna first. With a quick smile sent towards the stranger in the booth he hooked an arm around Anna’s shoulder and drug her into the crowd. Never noticing the man in the neon shit cut across their line of sight just as he looks down towards Anna.

 _She is stunning._ Castiel thinks as he crosses the bar with her. _Color does wonders for her._ Castiel pushes his way outside with Anna in tow and manages to find her sporty little red car. (And Castiel nearly cries when he figures out he can see the color.) He buckles her in and by the time he is climbing into the driver seat, she is passed out on the window. He smiles softly at her before driving to her apartment and helping her up the stairs.

“You should file a complaint,” He begins conversationally to a half-passed out Anna in his arms as he starts to pant. “To your landlord… about the elevator always… always being broken, Oh goodie, look your floor.” Castiel says humorlessly, glaring at the number 7 as he passes. Once down the hall it’s a struggle to get the keys out of Anna’s pocket and even more so to get her out of the ridiculous boots she decided to wear tonight. In the end Castiel just dumps her on her bed with the boots still on before heading out to sleep on the couch. She had been his ride home anyways, he can just walk to work tomorrow from here.

Castiel looks out over the city lights once before going to bed, imagining his soul mates green eyes and scattering of freckles somewhere in the maze of lights below and he softly sings the last line of the song he had picked earlier, feeling it fitting.

“ _It's amazing and I'm saying a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like i said hoping for another chapter to come out soon.  
> un beta-ed i have no beta and if anyone wants to step up go for it... all the mistakes are mine... pleas remember how early it was when i wrote this  
> Kudos and comments are horded like im smaug and i just found the Dwarves gold....  
> im gonna go now that was lame...  
> i had more for this plannedd which is what the next chapter should be but then 3 am hit and i was like wow, who needs sleep!  
> Me -_- i need sleep, anyways so sorry this took so long ... i have no excuse


	3. And They Meet...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can you describe how that night went, in your own words? You called the cops that night right?” Agent Finn asked softly. Castiel closed his eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that took longer than expected but less time than last time here ya go!  
> still hella unedited

“Fucking shit!”

Castiel blinked awake to the sound of something shattering in the kitchen and a very disgruntled Anna cursing like a sailor.

“I thought you agreed to watch your language from now on.” Castiel grumbled from the couch, pulling the blanket he had liberated from the closet last night higher up so it covered his ears and nose. There was a small gasp and the sound of broken glass falling back to the ground.

“Jesus, Cassie. You have to tell me you’re awake, It’s like you’re a goddamned ninja…” She mumbled as he heard the telltale signs of her dropping the glass into the trash can.

“I wasn’t until you decided to break things. Please tell me that wasn’t your coffee pot again, Christmas is too far away and your birthday was just last month where, may I remind you, I gave you a, what was it… Oh, that’s right a coffee pot.” Castiel griped as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he adjusted to the bright yellow splash of light filtering in from the kitchen.

He blinked again. _It wasn’t a dream?_ No, of course it wasn’t. He could pick out colors now, they were everywhere in the apartment. Red curtains, dark brown couch, a green blanket thrown over his legs still… Castiel ran a hand over the green of the blanket. It reminded him of the stranger’s eyes from last night. He had to go back and find him tonight, he’d do it right after work… no, that didn’t work. No one was at a bar at 5:30 in the afternoon, but he would go back and find him tonight.

“No it wasn’t my coffee pot smartass… it was a coffee mug…”

“Oh, well that’s considerably better.” He shot back rolling his eyes and standing. As he rounded the couch to get to the kitchen, he raised his arms above his head in a cat-like stretch, resting his elbows on the island in the middle. He peered over the counter top and watched her dump the last of the dark blue cup into the can, recognizing some of the designs on it. “Wasn’t that the mug Gabriel got you from Disney Land?”

Anna hummed in response and glared up at him through red rimmed eyes. “If I ever consume that much alcohol in one night again, I want you to stop me Castiel.” She groaned as she pulled herself off the floor, swaying a little and placing a hand on the counter to steady herself.

Castiel snorted in response and said nothing on her change of subject. “Hopefully, I won’t have to accompany you again.” He said, staring down at what he had always thought to be black specks in her counter top. It now appeared they were a deep gold color, they reminded him of the stranger’s freckles last night.

“Why? You got somewhere better to be?” She asked turning back to her coffee machine and grabbing another two mugs from the cabinet above it. “Don’t lie to me either, I know all you do is surround yourself with books at work then go home to your cramped, little apartment, which only feels that way because you stuff as many books in that place as you can. So, what’s up? Got a hot date? Was I that out of it last night?” She poured them both a cup and slid Castiel his, blowing on her own in the process.

Castiel took a moment to stir some sugar and milk into his own coffee, taking great joy in watching it turn from a black color to a cream one before bringing it to his lips, he hummed in satisfaction and smiled at his sister.

“You were not very lucid last night…” Castiel started not really knowing how to go about this. Would she be happy he found someone, or upset that he did and she hadn’t yet. He shook his head that was a silly thought, of course she’d be happy, she was his sister it was her obligation.

“Oh God, I didn’t do anything embarrassing did I?” Worry evident in her tone.

“Unless you count singing Aerosmith horribly wrong embarrassing then no. What I was going to say was –“

“Did _you_ do something embarrassing? If so why are you telling me? I’ll only use it as blackmail.”

“Anna, I was simply trying to tell you that-“

“Did you get some action last night? Did I get between you and the D? Oh no Cassie, you already live such a sheltered sex life you should have told me to fuck off if I was interrupting something!”

“Language, Anna.” Castiel reminded gently. “I just thought it prudent you know that-

“Was he hot? Did he have muscles? Tall or short? Does he have a frien-“

“I can see colors!” Castiel exploded. Well, not exactly how he had planned this going but the look of utter shock on her face was something he would treasure for years to come.

“ _Bullshit_!” She hissed, placing her cup on the counter beside her, no need to risk damaging another. “Who… What… At a _bar?”_

“Apparently…”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” She asked as she moved closer to the island.

“As I stated previously you weren’t exactly lucid, I had to drag you up the stairs last night.”

“Wait Cassie, I was supposed to drive you home, how are you going to get to work? How are you going to get home?”

“I’ll walk there and take the bus home, it’s fine.”

“No. It’s really not, I’ll drop you off on my way to work.” Castiel glanced over to the glowing red numbers on the microwave and shook his head.

“No you won’t. There won’t be enough time for you to make it there if you do that and my shift doesn’t start for another hour.”

“But…”

“I’ll be fine, really. You’ll be late though if you waste any more time here.” He said giving her shoulder a small shove.

“Fine,” She conceded, grabbing her coffee as she turned to head back to her room. “But don’t think that we’re done with this conversation. I want to hear all about him, what he looks like, what he does, all of it.” Castiel hummed and stared down into his cup, and Anna paused in the doorway turning back to her brother. “What?”

“What what?”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Well, not exactly…” Castiel admitted running a hand over his jaw nervously as he avoided Anna’s gaze.

“What do you mean not exactly?”

“I mean, you were singing to strangers, Anna, I couldn’t let you continue to drink, we had to go home.”

“So you left him there? Alone? Without even so much as a ‘hello, I think you’re hot as hell and we should meet up sometime but I got to take my drunk sister home before she vomits everywhere. Here’s my number call me?”

“I never said he was hot…” Castiel said softly, glaring at the counter top.

“I don’t see you disagreeing.”

“Go get ready for work, I was planning on going back tonight to find him anyways.”

She nodded and turned to go again. “And you’re taking me with you.” She stated before leaving him standing in her kitchen glaring at an empty door.

 

 

_How about I run up to you at the bar and tackle you to the ground? Then when he sees you’re in danger he’ll come running to your aid!_

Anna had been texting Castiel ‘suggestions’ on how to go about this whole thing from the moment she walked out the door.

_I don’t think I’d like his first impression of me to be ‘Can’t handle himself against a girl’ No offence but you’re nearly half my size…_

Castiel shot back as he pulled her door closed and locked it. He dropped the spare key in the plant beside her door before shoving his phone into his pocket and heading towards the staircase. He smiled as he recognized one of Anna’s friendlier neighbors on the stairs and offered up a quick ‘Good morning’.

Out on the sidewalk Castiel had to take a minute to explore the world in the color of daylight. It had been dark out when he and Anna had left the bar last night, the world had been shrouded in deep blues and dark purples, it had been beautiful in its own way and he had took the time to silently observe it as he had drug Anna into her building, but seeing it now in daylight took his breath away. As he began walking he eyed the grass and the sky, loving the contrast between the cool colors of the night and the sharp colors of the day.

_Doesn’t mean I can’t whip your ass any day… but I see your point. How bout I hire some guys to do it instead of me? Do you think you can take on three guys in a bar fight?_

_Three? Isn’t that a bit extreme?_ Castiel asked as he headed down the street towards his favorite coffee shop.

_Well you want him to know youre capable don’t you?_

_I don’t think me fighting three guys in front of him is really a good hello._

_I think its sexy…_ Anna responded after a short pause, as Castiel entered the coffee shop. He glanced at his phone quickly before stepping up to the counter and ordering his usual. He texted Anna back once he had received his coffee.

_I didn’t ask for your opinioojfsd-_ Castiel’s message was preemptively sent when he collided with a body as he was trying to exit, he managed to save his coffee but his phone fell out of his hand and clattered across the floor.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” An extremely tall man with long brown hair was asking.

“I’m fine, It was my fault really. I shouldn’t have been trying to text and walk at the same time.” The man gave a small chuckle and went to retrieve Castiel’s phone.

“We’ll call it a draw.” He said as he gave it back. “Sorry I ran into you.” He said waving as he headed towards the counter to get his coffee. Castiel took his phone with a quiet ‘thank you’ and headed back out onto the sidewalk. His phone gave a small buzz and he glanced down to see two texts from Anna in his inbox.

_What? I’m Confused._

_Cas are you there? What’s opiniooifsd? Is it a code word or something?_

Castiel rolled his eyes and started his two and a half block walk to the library.

_No, I dropped my phone, sorry. I meant to say opinion._

_Oh, that explains a lot. I thought you were trying to send me secret plans, but I shouldn’t have expected so much from you. You’ve got no imagination._

_Hey! I have an imagination. I have to go to work, some of us can’t shirk off our responsibilities like you._

_It’s a gift._

Castiel rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone again as he started up the steps to the local library, casting a quick glance over to the alley before crossing over the threshold and into the building. He said hello to another one of the girls working the desk as he passed, dropping his lunch off in the backroom before punching in.

The morning passed rather quickly as he worked the checkout desk, making small talk with some of the regulars and pointing new patrons in the direction of whatever genre they were looking for. He was just about to take the cart around to restock the shelves when he heard someone call his name. He paused and turned, seeing his co-worker Rachel, leading someone in a suit over towards him.

“Castiel,” Rachel said as she stopped in front of him. “This is Agent Finn. From the _FBI_ , he would like to ask you some questions. Agent Finn this is-“

“Castiel?” Agent Finn said extending his hand. “From the coffee shop this morning.” Castiel raised an eyebrow and automatically reached out to shake his hand. He peered closer at the man recognizing him as the person he had bumped into after getting his coffee this morning.

“Right, yes. I’m really sorry about that.” Agent Finn waved his hand dismissively and shook his head.

“We already agreed we were both at fault.”

“So, you two know each other?” Rachel cut in, glancing over towards Castiel once before turning back towards the main desk. “I guess I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Right, better get down to it then,” Agent Finn began, pulling out a notebook and flipping it open to a new page. “So, you were here Thursday night right? When the murder took place out back?” Castiel’s gaze dropped to the cart beside him and he shifted from foot to foot.

“Do you mind if I stock the shelves while we talk?”

“Not at all.” Castiel nodded and started over towards the young adult section, giving himself time to think.

“What would you like to know?” He asked finally, picking up the first book and sliding it into place.

“Can you describe how that night went, in your own words? You called the cops that night right?” agent Finn asked softly. Castiel closed his eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath.

“It was a Thursday night, so it wasn't very busy and it was my turn to lock up. I had already sent Hannah home for the night-”Castiel began, grabbing another book to give his hands something to do.

“Hannah works here also?” Castiel nodded again and continued.

“Yes. She had looked completely drained so I sent her home, I told her I could finish up, all I had to do was a walk through of the building. We have to make sure everyone is out of the library for the night, so I started on the third floor, like always, and was working my way down. I was near the back wall on the second floor, I remember because it’s all non-fiction up there and I was looking at a book I had been wanting to check out.” Castiel continued down the aisle placing books as he went, listening to agent Finn’s footsteps behind him.

“I remember thinking that I might have left a light on upstairs when I heard a yell. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, this isn’t a small town. It has its fair share of crime, so I kept going. After I finished the walk through I clocked out and went to lock the doors. Once I was outside, I could hear some commotion coming from the alley. I should have gone home, should have just written it off as a dog or something.

I crossed to the alley and leaned around the corner…” Castiel paused and glanced over the agent. His black suit was crisp and his light blue shirt looked almost new. He reminded Castiel of an actor from one of those cop tv shows. He couldn’t really tell him what he saw, he hadn’t even told Anna, hell, he’d even left it off the police report. And it was crazy. He barely believed himself. He should go with what he told the police, couldn’t you go to jail for giving two different statements?

“When I leaned around the corner, I saw this huge man with a knife easily as long as his forearm standing over another person on the ground, when I looked closer at the man on the ground I saw an arm much farther away from the body than it should have been. So I turned tail and called the police and that’s it.” If agent Finn noticed the slight pause in Castiel’s story he didn’t say as such.

“And this all happened four days ago?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mind me asking what you’re doing back at work so soon?” Castiel glanced at agent Finn quickly, before turning and pushing his cart deeper into the library. He couldn’t tell him it was because it’s more public than his home, then he would wonder why he didn’t want to be alone and that would lead right back to his statement.

“I was going crazy sitting at my apartment staring at the wall with nothing to do, so I begged them to let me come back to work.” Castiel replied, shrugging as he placed another book on the shelf.

“And any reason you didn’t look into the shout you heard before completing your walk through?” Agent Finn asked, marking things down on his notepad.

“Like I said, there is a lot of crime here, I thought it was just normal city noises, and there is a bar not too far from here. Sometimes the drunks stumble by here on their way home. I figured it was one of them.”

Agent Finn looked at him for a moment as if contemplating something. “And you’re sure that’s everything? You can tell me if something else happened, I’m not the police, well technically I am but I’m not here to arrest you. I just want to find the killer.” Castiel considered it for a moment and was opening his mouth to say something back when a voice sounded from behind agent Finn.

“Sam, do you have any idea how hard it was to find you? I think I found something you might want to see.” Agent Finn turned around to address the newcomer and Castiel moved to the side to see who it was.

“Dean, I’m interviewing a witness. Can’t it wait ‘till I’m done? Dean?” Castiel’s breath caught as he looked over the man who had just entered their aisle. His eyes were the same color as the ones from the bar last night and, good lord, he had freckles too. No, wait, they were the exact same freckles, holy shit. This was the man from the bar. The one who had spit his drink all over his companion, no doubt Agent Finn had gotten a face full of whatever that had been last night.

And Dean. His name was Dean, it was perfect and beautiful just like him. It fit him so well, oh god, he’s just been staring at him. How long has it been? Probably not too long. He could feel agent Finn’s gaze jumping back and forth between them but he didn’t dare look away. Anna wasn’t here now, he had no reason to leave this time, and he should say something, anything. Come on Castiel, you can’t just stare at him forever.

Oh, but he wanted to, and now that he was no longer entrapped by the green of his eyes he could look over the rest of him. His Jaw line was sharp and his lashes long. He had broad shoulders and a thick build, he looked to be more of a football player than a runner and he had bow legs. Castiel smiled at that, this Adonis like man had bow legs, the only visible flaw he could see and that more than anything seemed to knock his voice back into action.

“Hello, Dean.” He said, his voice coming out steadier than he thought it would. Dean’s eyes snapped back to his face, apparently he had been doing the exact same thing Castiel had, and he watched him take a deep breath before a cocky smile slipped onto his face.

“Well, hello handsome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO!!  
> Deans perspective is next.  
> Comments and Kudos are always put up on a pedestal and preserved in an airtight glass case. where I can look at them for years to come.  
> Check out my tumblr.  
> It's not an ungodly hour this time either... 11 is reasonable right?


	4. Libraries, am I right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay, I did the dirty work last interview which means this time you’ve got the alley and I’ll go interview the witness.” Sam said climbing out of the car and heading up the giant stone staircase towards the front door before Dean could protest.
> 
> “Well, hello handsome.” Dean said taking a few steps forward so he was beside Sam now. “It’s not really fair that you know my name and I don’t know yours now is it?”
> 
> “Castiel.” The man replied sticking his hand out and fumbling his glasses off.
> 
> “Uh… Guys…?” Sam interjected weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not worthy of all of you guys. Im sorry this took so long, forgive me. I had writers block then i got a new job everything is insane. Please accept my humblest of apologies.   
> this is hella unedited

The sheets weren’t brown.

That was the first thought that raced through Dean’s head when he woke up the next morning. The second being: They’re actually a purple color that’s pretty cool to look at, if he’s actually being honest with himself and the third? The drapes don’t match.

Wow, less than twenty four hours of being able to see colors and he already sounds like a pretentious dick from one of those girly shows Sam like to watch then pretend he doesn’t. Like Say Yes to the Dress, or America’s Best Top Model, or… or…Project Runway… Okay, so maybe that last one Dean watches, but only because Tim Gunn is bad ass and no one can tell him otherwise.

“Dean? What are you doing up? It’s not even 9. Are you feeling okay?” Sam asked after walking through the door to find Dean sitting crossed legged on his bed staring intently at the drapes.

“I’m fine.” He shot back, glancing over at his brother and snorting at his outfit. “You aren’t though. Did you go for a run? Who just runs for fun? And at this time of the morning? Are you secretly a masochist? No, wait don’t answer that, I don’t want to know anything about your sex life.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother and crossed to the bathroom, grabbing his duffel on the way, kicking the door closed as he stripped out of his fitted t shirt and athletic shorts for a shower. “That was way too many questions in under a minute. I don’t believe your ‘I’m fine’ shit for a second.” He called back through the door.

Dean huffed and stood stretching his arms above his head, spine popping blissfully. “Shut up and take your shower, freak of nature.” He shouted, crossing over to Sam’s laptop that was sitting on the small table and booting it up.

He scrolled around online for a while, trying to look up old news articles and frowning when only a handful for the city popped up. “Hey Samsquatch?” He yelled out hoping to be heard over the shower.

“What?” Came Sam’s bitchy reply two seconds later.

“Any idea why I can’t find any old newspapers online?” Dean heard the water shut off and had less than three minutes before a dripping wet Sam was standing over him, tiny water droplets of water falling all over the keyboard, clad in only his dress pants and a wife beater.

“Dude!”

“Give me the computer.”

“Fine Miss Priss, at least dry off your hair.” Dean grumbled standing and crossing to the steam filled bathroom when all Sam did was hum in response. He pulled a white towel off the shel, staring at the color for a moment before taking it into the room. Sam looked to be in deep concentration, his fingers flying over the keys and his brow furrowed. So naturally Dean had to screw with him, he took careful aim and tossed the towel straight for Sam’s head, giving a small whoop of triumph when it collided with its mark.

Sam let out a frustrated breath and glared at his brother. “Really? What are you? Four?”

“Did you find anything?” He asked ignoring Sam’s forming bitchface in favor of something case worthy.

“No, but we were going to have to go to the library to question the witness there anyways, might as well ask about the old news records while we’re there. How ‘bout swinging by there after the bar?”

“Does this mean we’ll have to do actual paper research?”

“Probably.” Sam said, closing the laptop and reaching for his dress shirt.

“Damn.”

 

 

“And you’re sure there’s nothing more you can tell us?” Dean asked, glancing behind the young blond, who seemed to be the only person in the bar at the moment besides a line cook in the back, to see Sam shaking his head. Sweep through was a bust then, no sulfur, EMF, or hexbags. Well, now they could strike three off the nearly endless list of monsters it could be.

“No I’m sorry I was in the store room at the time. Heard some yelling and went out back to check it out. By the time I got out back there was no one there and… It was… There was…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to finish ma’am. You’ve given us plenty.” Sam butted in, laying a hand on Dean’s shoulder and turning him away.

“Wait, there’s not much, but we did get something on film. Security cameras and all…” Dean paused at that turning back around to face… what was her name Karey? Sam following suit.

“Could you show us?” He asked, all fake concern lacing his voice, which knowing Sam probably wasn’t all that fake actually.

 

 

The tape was grainy and showed in black and white. Which made sense considering most people only saw in black and white, but it showed Dean how different things had looked back then compared to now. He snorted to himself and mentally rolled his eyes. Listen to him. _Back then_. As if it was years ago or something, like he said before, seeing colors made you a pretentious dick.

Anyways, the tape. Dean watched the dingy alley appear on the screen, flickering once before settling in a steady picture. After a few seconds of staring at nothing the back door to the bar opened to show their vic, Justin as the Karey had told them, holding a trash bag and making his way across the small alley and It’s only on his way back to the door that things get weird. A broad shouldered silhouette appeared at the end of the alley and started stalking towards Justin, who was bobbing his head along to some unheard music. Probably had headphones in or something. Just as Justin was reaching for the door the broad shouldered man seamed to move at speeds not normal for a human and he was suddenly right behind him. The dark figure grabbed one of Justin’s arms and spun him around as he raised his hand fingers spread to-

That’s where the video cut off, Dean frowned and glanced quickly over to Sam who shook his head in return. Well alright then.

“Thank you for your time, Karey” Sam said as Dean nodded along with him. “If I leave you my email do you think you could send this to me?”

She agreed and Dean left them in the back to talk nerd together while he headed back out into the main room of the bar to wait. As he stood there leaning against the counter his eyes were drawn back to the juke box, with its bright orange and red lights glowing against the deep brown of the paneled wall. Well specifically just to the left of the juke box were his mysterious blue eyed man had been standing. He stared at the spot for a moment wondering why he had left and if he would be back tonight, that seemed like a logical course of action to take. Unless he had left on purpose, had seen Dean and run for the hills, but that was crazy talk, right?

His thoughts kept swirling around in his head biting at him like little mosquitos until Sam exited the back and Dean mentally swatted them away, glancing at his brother questioningly. “Ready to go? You done flirting?” Sam’s face scrunched up and he glared over at Dean.

“Dean, no. She just went through a traumatic experience, that’s wrong. You saw how badly she was taking it.”

“Dude lighten up, I was just kidding.” Dean’s eyes bounced back over to the corner and he cleared his throat. “Lets get some food then head over to the library.” He said as rolled his shoulders and headed for the door. Sam followed Dean’s line of sight and glanced at Dean worriedly before following him out of the bar.

They stopped at a local diner, eating quickly and Sam could tell Dean was distracted. He didn’t flirt with the waitress once, not even a wink, which was decidedly _not_ Dean. He still made wise cracks about Sam’s hair and they discussed the case a little but He seemed sort of… Distant.

That’s why once they piled back into the Impala and made the drive over to the local library Sam took it upon himself to give Dean a little space. His brother didn’t seem to be in the talk-to-people kind of mood.

“Okay, I did the dirty work last interview which means this time you’ve got the alley and I’ll go interview the witness.” Sam said climbing out of the car and heading up the giant stone staircase towards the front door before Dean could protest.

Dean grumbled to himself as he reached into the glove box for his EMF detector and double checked he had his gun once out of the car before heading around the side of the building towards the back alley.

He stood at the mouth of the glared at it. Why was it that monsters always picked the creepiest of places to do their dirty work? The alley itself wasn’t very big across only nine feet or so and the shadows from the next building threw the whole place into a perpetual twilight. There was still some caution tape laying on the ground next to his shoe and huh, would you look at that, _yellow_ caution tape.

He shook his head and stepped over the discarded tape, one hand reaching for the pocket flashlight he had while the other came to rest on his gun as he shone the light all over the walls and ground. It looked like your typical alley with dumpsters for each building along the wall and trash strewn around even though there was a perfectly good place to put it two feet away. There was an old mattress pushed up to the side of a dumpster and he would bet money some homeless person slept there at night.

Further into the alley there was a spot clear of trash, like it had been brushed away in a struggle and the pavement looked cleaner than the rest. Dean tried not to think about how that was from the blood being cleaned up but he failed kind of miserably. He swept his flashlight around the area, obviously this is where the murder had happened so there had to be something, anything the cops missed, that could help them.

The trash on the ground obscured almost everything and Dean relinquished his grip on his gun in order to pull out his EMF reader, he flipped the switch and nothing. No spikes, no jumps, nada. He let out a frustrated sigh and put it away, sweeping the flashlight around again. He started toeing the trash around him with his shoe, hoping to uncover something but the colors here were all bland and washed out. Almost like someone had sucked all the vibrancy out of the colors making everything sort of grey and brown.

Dean poked around a little more wishing for something he could take back to Sam, some sort of lead. He was just turning to go when the god of leads smiled upon him. His flashlight beam flew over the old mattress and he caught a flash as the light was reflected back at him. He crossed over to the mattress and stooped to pick up what was sitting there. A small necklace sat in the palm of his hand, the chain thin and the pendant looked to be worn down like it was rubbed a lot. A good luck charm maybe? He pocketed it and glanced down again making sure there was nothing else when a spot caught his eye. Were he still seeing in black and white he would have probably overlooked the tiny thing, its color difference was slight and hard to see in the gloom of the alley. He picked it up and grimaced as he saw what it was, a nail. Or a claw to be more precise, it was off of someone’s finger and it was a deep rusty brown color, he pocketed that too and went off to find Sam.

 

 

Fucking libraries, why did they always have to be so confusing? The filing was weird, the numbering was weird and every single shelve looked the same. The lady at the front desk had said Sam had gone into the young adults section, well thank you for that, but he’s been roaming around that section for almost five minutes with no end in sight. Wait, he recognized that tall mop of brown hair with his back to him. Finally.

“Sam, do you have any idea how hard it was to find you? I think I found something you might want to see.” Dean said slowing to a stop a few steps behind Sam and waiting for him to turn around, which he did but someone stepped out from behind Sam and Dean’s breath caught. Sam said something then, but if you asked Dean to repeat it all he could have told you was something about the color blue.

Those eyes, hot damn. That blue was the same color he had seen from last night, the kickstarter you could say and it was just as magnetic as it was before. Dean was vaugly aware of Sam saying something as he tore his eyes away from those crystal blue ones and raked his gaze over the man they belonged to. His shoulders were wider than his hips and he was slim but not skinny, more lean, like a swimmer , there was a pair of thick rimmed glasses perched on his nose and he was in a dress shirt with a sleek waistcoat pulled over it. Dean’s eyes traveled to his hair next and holy hell, did he own a brush? It looked as if he had just rolled out of bed after having a good roll in the hay, the dark locks stuck up in every direction. Dean’s eyes were tracing their way back down the man’s body when he spoke for the first time and his green eyes snapped up to meet blue ones.

“Hello, Dean.” And holy shit he had to pause for a breath then, the man’s voice was amazing like he had just downed a finger or two of whisky. This was the guy, the make it or break it for Dean, there was no reason to not lay it on thick right? Might as well let him know what he’s signing up for, Dean thought as a grin slid onto his face.

“Well, hello handsome.” Dean said taking a few steps forward so he was beside Sam now. “It’s not really fair that you know my name and I don’t know yours now is it?”

“Castiel.” The man replied sticking his hand out and fumbling his glasses off. Dean’s smile softened at that and he took the hand offered to him, shaking it slightly and probably longer than necessary as he locked eyes with Castiel.

“Uh… Guys…?” Sam interjected weakly, going ignored by both Dean and Castiel.

“Alright, I swear I’ve seen you before. You didn’t happen to be at a bar last night did you? The one down on fifth and broadway?”

“What?” Sam exclaimed, pulling both Dean and Castiel’s attention to him. “Are you serious? I can’t believe… Of course… He’s only a key witness in our case! But of course you would.” But he was smiling softly at his brother.

“Oh, stuff it Sam. Not like you haven’t done it.” Dean said turning back to Castiel. “You were there right? And I’m not just going crazy you can see it too?” He asked a hint of self-consciousness creeping into his words. Castiel smiled widely and nodded, it was always a gamble asking someone if they saw what you saw, horror stories of one sided loves making people antsy.

“Of course, your eyes, Dean. They’re very bright.” Castiel said swaying closer to Dean. Sam made a sound beside them and they looked over.

“You two are disgusting, couldn’t this have waited like five more minutes?”

“You were winding down with the questions anyways.” Dean scoffed.

“Yeah, exactly, _winding down_ , not done.”

“So ask.” Castiel said, as his gaze slid back to Dean’s face, Sam made another sound then, this one more of a laugh than anything.

“You guys don’t even realize do you?”

“Realize what?” Dean asked his eyes flicking from Castiel to Sam and back. Sam snickered again and pointed towards their middles.

“You haven’t even let go of your ‘handshake’ yet.” Sam said, putting air quotes around the word handshake.

Dean and Castiel looked down to see that their hands had indeed not moved away from each other but instead their fingers had twined together. Dean saw Castiel tilt his head at this as Dean wiggled his fingers experimentally, he didn’t even realize they had done that. Well, when in Rome, yada yada. Dean met Castiel’s eyes and shrugged, giving Castiel’s hand a quick squeeze before turning to Sam.

“Well? Ask Cas your damn questions then go read a book or something.” Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean’s nickname and smirked at him.

“You do realize we are on a case. You’ll have to detach eventually to… uh…” He glanced at Castiel quickly and then back to Dean. “Get paid.”

“Yeah, Yeah. _Ask_.” Dean prompted as he waved his hand at Sam.

“Fine. Castiel,” He waited until Castiel’s gaze was off of Dean and on to Sam before continuing. “I think I have just one more question then you two can… talk. Where are all the old newspaper articles from around town kept? We couldn’t find much online.”

“Oh, It’s uh…” His gaze slid back to Dean who smiled at him and nodded towards Sam. “Sorry, right… They’re kept here. In the basement with all other public records. But there was a fire, about thirty or so years ago, most of the copies we had got burnt. We tried to digitalize a few years ago and what you found online is… uh…” Dean had started rubbing his thumb over Cas’ knuckles and it took Castiel a second to adjust to the new sensation.” It’s pretty much all we have left. There are a few more that are a little blackened and scanned too darkly, but we lost most of our microfiches.” Sam glanced between the two and snapped his notebook shut.

“Uh huh. Thank you for your time, Castiel. I’m sure you have a lot of work to finish and now Agent Sawyer and I have to go check on these newspapers. You’ve got ten minutes, Dean, before I come back up here and drag you downstairs by your ear.”

“You don’t scare me.” Dean shot back as Sam headed down the aisle and out of sight.

“Nice to meet you.” Castiel called after him.

“Well, now that the goliath is out of the way, are you free now?” Dean turned to Cas and grinned lopsidedly at him. Cas narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, Dean did not find it adorable, really he didn’t.

“Didn’t he just give you a time limit for when you need to be down there by?” Castiel asked looking confused.

“Yeah, but that’s only if he can find me. You can’t force someone into research if they’re not there. Plus, I think I have a hot date.” Dean winked at Cas as he watched the blush creep up his cheeks.

“I would,” Castiel began, “but I actually am in the middle of something.” He placed his free hand on the cart full of books and disentangled his other hand from Dean’s. “I do however get off in an hour and a half and I have no plans for later.” He smiled at Dean. “Unless you count bar crawling to find this really hot guy I saw yesterday.”

Dean deflated slightly at the news that Cas wasn’t free now but instantly perked back up at the opportunity to take him out later. “I think I can clear time in my schedule for you. I don’t know about this other guy though, are you trying to make me jealous?” Dean asked stepping closer to Castiel and leaning into his personal space. Cas leaned right back, getting up in Dean’s face and they were close now, Dean could feel Cas’ breaths across his lips as they stood there.

“I don’t know, is it working?” Cas breathed and Dean thought about that for a second, thought about what it would be like if Cas left here today, went out to the bar and picked someone up, Someone not Dean. Could be a nice blond girl with a stylish apartment or a dark haired guy not so different from Cas himself. The thought made something lurch inside Dean. No, that wasn’t fair, he had just found Cas, He didn’t want him running off with someone else. If Cas left the colors would fade too, everything would be a bland grey place his own head included. That just wasn’t acceptable.

He could show Cas he wanted to make this work, but Cas was busy and Sam was waiting so he didn’t really have the time to do any grand gesture right now. Cas’ breath fanned out across his lips again and Dean shivered slightly. Nothing big but…

Dean leaned forward and tilted his chin up, his lips connecting with Castiel’s. It was almost like seeing color for the first time again, overwhelming and exciting. He’d kissed plenty of people before, it’s no secret that Dean was kind of a man whore, but a first kiss, one without any tongue, just a simple press of lips, had never made him feel quite like this before.

They pulled back and stared at each other for a second before Castiel smiled and leaned in for another kiss, this one more heated and needy, an electric feeling crawling along his bones as Dean’s tongue swiped across Castiel’s. The broke apart after a few minutes breathing heavily.

“I guess it did.” Cas said as Dean chuckled softly and rested his forehead on Cas’ briefly.

“Yeah it did.”

“I have to get back to work but I’ll see you soon alright?” Castiel looked up at him eyes wide like he was nervous Dean wouldn’t agree.

“Of course, have fun.” Dean said sarcastically before Cas smiled at him then turned and pushed his cart off.

 

 

Dean was grinning to himself as he made his way down to the records in the basement. It didn’t take him long to locate Sam who glanced up as Dean fell into the chair opposite him.

“Good time then?” He asked as he looked Dean over. He picked up his phone and glanced at the time. “You made good time too I was going to come get you in a second.” Dean hummed an affirmative and glanced around the room happily.

“We’re meeting up after he gets off work, so now you have your choice of stay here and get a taxi back or I can drop you off before I pick him up.” Dean said tapping his fingers on the desk.

“I’ll stay thanks, but I can get more work done this way and I won’t have to deal with your pre date jitters as much.”

“It’s not a date.”

“Totally a date.” Sam said giving him a nonplussed look.

“Okay kinda a date.”

“Discussing jobs should be fun.” Sam supplied ‘helpfully’.

“Shut up, Sammy.”

“Fine, but if we’re don’t talking about your date, you can start over there.” Sam said gesturing to a box behind him. Dean groaned, his good mood popped and crossed over to the box.

“Sam these are almost unreadable.” He whined.

“That would be why I gave them to you. Good luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! interaction, finally.   
> plot? sorta?  
> you all are beautiful.   
> My tumblr is fandom-addictions, feel free to keep me on task with this i am easily distracted.   
> kudos and comments are put in a special box and kept hidden until im feeling down and they get me through it.  
> all mistakes are my own, point them out if you see them  
> hella unedited


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